Cabs charge a flat fee to Manhattan from JFK. Was $45, think it might be $55 now...

...though I'm not sure.

What I do know is, if you get the Skytrain from the terminal you land at to Jamaica Station (free), buy a ticket from there to Penn Station (not much - BUT be CERTAIN to talk to one of the staff, most tourists don't understand the system and end up spending about $25 they don't need to each) and get the train you can save quite a lot of money.

Then at Penn station you can either catch a (much cheaper) cab, or go for the Full New Yorker and get the subway. Take the A-C-E line (A is quickest, only two stops) to West 4th Street then walk to wherever you're going. You can get a single-use fare from one of the machines and it's quite intuitive (unlike the train machines which lead tourists to spend a lot more than they need to between JFK and Penn Station).

There is also an intermediate option between the Full or Half New Yorker as above and expensive cab from the airport, namely a shared shuttle which will be about $12 a head. The deal is you have to wait a while before they set off and you have no clue whether you will be the first or last set of passengers to be set down, but it will take you door to door for about a quarter of the price of a cab. There are touts and stands for these in all the arrivals halls.

Posted By: Old Man, Apr 1, 22:28:08